Remembering Jesus at the Garden Tomb

Our group listens as Malcolm describes the Temple Mount.

To get there we had to pass through tight Israeli security. Once on the Temple Mount, we saw quite a few Palestinian police. But on the whole there was no sign of any special tension. Ours was one of many tourist groups on the Temple Mount on Monday morning. During our tours in the 90s, we were permitted to enter the Dome of the Rock. We are no longer able to do that. We also could not bring Bibles with us or any drawings about the Temple because that is considered inflammatory. Other than that, we had freedom to walk around, look at things, and take pictures freely. 

The beautiful Dome of the Rock.

Malcolm led us to the Eastern Gate that has been closed for many years. We believe that gated will be opened when Christ returns to establish his Kingdom. Malcolm pointed across the Kidron Valley to the vast Jewish cemetery with its whitewashed above-ground tombs. The cemetery has been there for 3000 years, he said. No doubt Jesus was looking at that cemetery when he said to the Pharisees, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity” (Matthew 23:27).

The Eastern Gate–now closed but to be opened when Jesus returns.

The crowds were moderate, and the weather was sunny and a bit cooler, making our visit an enjoyable experience. In very quick succession we visited the pool of Bethesda and St. Anne’s Church where we sang “Alleluia” and heard the words vibrate off the hard stone surfaces long after we stopped singing. A British group entered and invited us to join them in singing “Amazing Grace.” Then it was on to the Church of the Flagellation and the Church of the Condemnation, both built over or nearby the actual sites where our Lord suffered so greatly while Pilate tried to wash his hands of his own guilt (Matthew 27:24). Then we descended a stairway to view the stone pavement called the Lithostrotos, also called Gabbatha in John 19:13. Here we saw the games soldiers scratched into the pavement to keep them occupied when they were bored. Then we entered a Greek Orthodox Church to view the dungeon where Christ was held along with the prisoner Barabbas. 

Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, built on the site where Jesus was tried by Caiaphas and where Peter denied the Lord.

We spent a few minutes in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional location of the death and resurrection. Malcolm rightly pointed out that the New Testament doesn’t specify the exact location and it doesn’t matter because we don’t worship a dead memorial but a living Christ.This is one of the oldest churches in the world, having been built, destroyed, rebuilt, re-destroyed, burned, neglected, rebuilt again, added on, remodeled, dug out, argued over, fought over and divided up countless times over the last 1700 years. Today it is under the shared control of various Christian groups, including the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and Syrian Orthodox churches. Over the centuries the church has been the focus of bitter religious disputes, which is ironic given that this is the supposed location of the death and resurrection of the Prince of Peace. But as with so many things in the Holy Land, the church is a paradox. Many evangelical Protestants find the vast church to be cold and off-putting. Its great antiquity cannot be disputed, and since it may indeed be the site where our Lord died and rose again, it is certainly worth a visit.

Golgotha, or Skull Hill.

As you see the crowds of Christians from India, Korea, Germany, Nigeria and Russia, you cannot help but be moved by the power of faith. Here we are in the 21st  century, far removed from the time of the Bible, and yet pilgrims travel from the ends of the earth to find the taproot of their faith.

Bill and Irene Danson enter the Garden Tomb.

Finally we made our way to the Garden Tomb. Nearby is Gordon’s Calvary. Many evangelicals think this is the true location of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. It certainly is closer in spirit than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Garden Tomb Association undertakes the care and oversight of the area and has done so for over a century. Gordon’s Calvary is actually a set of skull-like indentations in a nearby exposed limestone hill. Above it is an Arab cemetery. Beneath it, and partially obscuring the view, is a bus station. From time to time the sound of the buses disrupts the quiet of the Garden Tomb. No one can say with certainty that this is where our Lord was crucified, but in certain respects it does fit the biblical picture. The people who administer the Garden Tomb make no extravagant claims, preferring to let the setting speak for itself.

The tomb is empty.

The tomb itself is ancient, and visitors are invited to go inside and view it for themselves. It appears to have been unfinished, as if it had been used once and then never used again. Inscriptions on the wall indicate that Christians from early centuries visited the tomb and noted its significance. After everyone had visited the tomb, we gathered nearby for a communion service. Marvin Just led us in singing several songs, Karl Olsson read Isaiah 53:1-6, Dean Ersig read Matthew 27:41-54, and Howard Yorke served the communion elements. Here we were, sitting perhaps 20 yards from the empty tomb, remembering our Lord’s death and resurrection. We took home with us the communion cups carved from olive wood as a commemoration of that never-to-be-forgotten moment in the Garden Tomb.

The last thing you see before exiting the Garden Tomb.

When we got back to the hotel, we stayed around the dinner table a long time, sharing the high points of the amazing trip we had taken together. We were strangers when we started, then we became group, and finally we were a family. We became pilgrims on a journey that ended on Monday at the place where our Lord died and rose again. And so the time has come to go home, with faith renewed and hearts full of memories of happy days spent together in the Land of the Bible.